AP Prepares for MPTC and ZPTC Polls as Heavy Rain Delays Voting in Five Mandals

Authorities have completed arrangements for the MPTC and ZPTC elections in Andhra Pradesh, with polling scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday. A total of 21,012 candidates are contesting for 582 ZPTC and 7,767 MPTC seats. More than 2.61 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise at 31,460 polling stations across the state. The electorate includes over 1.32 crore women, more than 1.28 crore men and 1,282 voters belonging to other categories. Around 2.01 lakh officials and polling personnel have been deployed, while 1,01,618 ballot boxes have been arranged. As many as 2,128 seats were declared unanimous after the withdrawal of nominations. The State Election Commission had earlier postponed the polls, initially scheduled for November 3, due to municipal vote counting, but later decided to conduct them on Thursday. However, following heavy rainfall linked to Cyclone Murusu, polling was deferred in five mandals: Velerupadu, Buttayagudem, Jeelugumilli and Polavaram in Eluru district, and Gopalapuram in East Godavari district.

Polling in these five mandals will now be held on Friday, with counting scheduled for Saturday. The East Godavari district administration clarified that polling would take place as scheduled in the rest of the district, except Gopalapuram. Elections will not be held in three other MPTC constituencies: Sugumanchipalli and Kondapuram in YSR Kadapa district, where no nominations were filed, and Krishnagiri in Banaganapalle mandal of Nandyal district, where all nominations were rejected. In view of incidents reported during the nomination process and municipal elections, additional police forces have been deployed in Palnadu, Nandyal, Annamayya, YSR Kadapa and Tirupati districts. State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha directed district officials to ensure adequate security and make arrangements to protect voters and polling staff in rain-affected areas. He stressed that the elections must be conducted freely and impartially. Counting for the polls scheduled on Thursday will take place on November 7.